Am I allowed to say that? Please understand that I am not knocking them. They definitely have value, even therapeutic. It’s just that, personally, I feel a bit inept when presented with the responsibility of leading craft projects. Or even joining as a participant. That is how I learned to delegate. My team, awesomely crafty, has taken care of everything. I carry around frisbees and my ukulele.
After visiting programs for girls all week, yesterday we went to the boys drop-in center. I say “the” because it’s the only one in Phnom Penh. With ALL of these programs for girls, one might think that young boys in general have it easy in Cambodia. Not so much. Though not as frequently under lock and key, many boys who live in the slums or on the streets are sexually exploited and abused. This ministry is aimed to reach them. Kevin Costner says, “If you build it, they will come.” In this case, as the staff here started building it, before they even advertised what they were doing, the boys came. Many of them–up to 40 at a time–have been coming ever since.
And yes, this boys club does have crafts, but yesterday we played frisbee, soccer, and some random tag-like games. It was awesome. I actually had this thought: “Boys programming/ministry is way more fun than girls!” Then I felt weird for thinking that.
One of the boys there was HIV positive. He no longer goes to school as he gets beat up and teased by his classmates. He doesn’t here. It’s clear that the boys club is like a family. The khmer staff who work at this program are awesome—filled with energy and like overgrown boys themselves. Probably the funniest moment came during the soccer game (we had to quit frisbee early; it got a little dangerous… once they learn how to throw, they’ll be fine!). It was complete chaos–probably 12 people on a team in a cramped room. The goals were these coat racks on wheels. Yeah, you know where this is going… 
One little, clever boy on my team, Mao, though he wasn’t goal tending, moved the goal ten feet to the left. The goalkeeper didn’t even notice–no one was looking. Then one of the staff kicked the ball with great force across the room and it landed square in the middle of where the goal USED to be. Mao, only 4 or 5, was jumping in the middle of the moved goal cheering and laughing. The staff, kids, and we volunteers could not stop laughing. It was awesome. Also, in world cup fashion, the boys would flop (fake injuries), and the staff would carry them off as in a stretcher. Yeah, this was so awesome.
They also liked the ukulele. I played the one song I could remember in khmer. We danced and sang. It was very good.
This visit also marked the end of our interaction with the different ministries and programs here. Today and tomorrow, we mainly hang out. Hopefully, i’ll have time to connect with most of the khmer friends I made while here. I got to see some of them Wednesday night, and they’re taking us on a boat ride tonight. Our team has blocks of time to rest at the hotel this weekend; it seems I can’t do that. That’s what long plane rides are for.
Much love! See you soon! And pictures to follow.
